Maersk slows WAF1

Friday, January 18, 2013

The ocean carrier Maersk Line has added a sixth vessel to its weekly WAF1 service between hub ports in the West Mediterranean and West Africa, increasing roundtrip voyage time on the loop from 35 days to 42 days.
Transit times northbound on the WAF1 have been increased by about seven days, as vessels will now slow steam one extra week between Onne, Nigeria and San Pedro, Ivory Coast, taking 20 days between Onne and Maersk’s West-Mediterranean hubs in Tangiers and Algeciras.
The service is currently operated by six Maersk vessels with an average capacity of 2,492 TEUs each, and the port rotation remains Tangiers, Algeciras, Tema, Onne, Takoradi, San Pedro, and Tangiers. Subsidiary Safmarine continues to take slots on the WAF1.
Since the termination of Maersk’s WAF10 service, Maersk operates a total of 10 direct weekly services between Tangiers/Algeciras and West Africa including the WAF1. The others are its WAF2, WAF3, WAF5, WAF6, WAF7, WAF8, WAF9, WAF11 and WAF13 loops. Of them, only the WAF11 similarly calls at Tema and none of the other WAF loops call at Onne, Takoradi, or San Pedro. - BlueWater Reporting, Ben Meyer